Bush Says Musharraf ‘Hasn’t Crossed the Line’
Just weeks after publicly fretting about Pervez Musharraf's dictatorial power grab, George W. Bush has decided that the Pakistani president "hasn't crossed the line" and "truly is somebody who believes in democracy." It's an assessment that would be comical if it didn't have to do with the freedom of millions of people and the security of dozens of nuclear weapons.
Just weeks after publicly fretting about Pervez Musharraf’s dictatorial power grab, George W. Bush has decided that the Pakistani president “hasn’t crossed the line” and “truly is somebody who believes in democracy.” It’s an assessment that would be comical if it didn’t have to do with the freedom of millions of people and the security of dozens of nuclear weapons.
Sen. Joe Biden took the words out of our mouths: “What exactly would it take for the president to conclude Musharraf has crossed the line? Suspend the constitution? Impose emergency law? Beat and jail his political opponents and human rights activists? … He’s already done all that. If the president sees Musharraf as a democrat, he must be wearing the same glasses he had on when he looked in Vladimir Putin’s soul.”
Wait, before you go…Washington Post:
President Bush [Tuesday] offered his strongest support of embattled Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, saying the general “hasn’t crossed the line” and “truly is somebody who believes in democracy.”
Bush spoke nearly three weeks after Musharraf declared emergency rule, sacked members of the Supreme Court and began a roundup of journalists, lawyers and human rights activists. Musharraf’s government [Tuesday] released about 3,000 political prisoners, although 2,000 remain in custody, according to the Interior Ministry.
The comments, delivered in an interview with ABC News anchor Charles Gibson, contrasted with previous administration statements — including by Bush himself — expressing grave concern over Musharraf’s actions. In his first public comments on the crisis two weeks ago, Bush said his aides bluntly warned Musharraf that his emergency measures “would undermine democracy.”
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